Ten reasons to love autumn

With September upon us, the Times-Herald looks at 10 reasons to look forward to the fall, not fear it.

The foliage in
Wakamow Valley
Bob Wills, Wakamow Valley Authority general manager said the Moose Jaw River Park is a beautiful place during autumn.
He describes the colours of the trees in Wakamow Valley as "glorious" once summer ends.
"That's one thing I'd look forward to," Wills said, adding the most common types of deciduous trees in the valley include Manitoba maple and green ash. There are also several elms in the area previously developed as a residential area.
Also, Wills said Wakamow Valley is home to some of the largest cottonwood poplars in Saskatchewan, as well as some bright red amur maple.

Christmas in October
Chantelle Flanagan-Moore, Yvette Moore Gallery manager, said from Oct. 22 to Oct. 31 at least 22 downtown stores and the City of Moose Jaw put up festive decorations, holiday lights along Main Street and kick off the Christmas shopping season, making the Friendly City the first place around to start selling Yuletide products.
"Kind of the whole city unveils the Christmas season," she said, adding her store closes for three days before the annual shopping event.
When it reopens on Oct. 22, the store is transformed into a winter wonderland and the gallery restaurant offers the "best flavours of Christmas."

Exciting new attraction takes flight at Tourism Moose Jaw
Candis Kirkpatrick, Tourism Moose Jaw executive director, told the Times-Herald the end of summer should accompany a new attraction at the local tourism information centre, a full-sized Tutor jet.
"I would say we hope to have it out in September," she said.
The retrofitted Snowbird jet will be mounted on a pole, so as to appear as if in mid flight.
Moose Jaw's tourism information centre is one of the few in Saskatchewan that remains open all year round, offering services to Friendly City visitors.

Fall/winter events
offered through the
City of Moose Jaw
At the end of August, the City of Moose Jaw's parks and recreation department released its recreation guide for fall and winter.
In a recent interview, city recreation program supervisor Jasmine Jackman told the Times-Herald the guide was distributed with copies of the Sunday Times on Sunday and is also available online at www.moosejaw.ca.
She said the guide includes a variety of fall and winter programs offered through the city - typically about 70 in all.

#A chance to exercise one's democratic muscle
It's election year for municipalities across Sask-atchewan. Moose Javians will have the opportunity to run for city hall or school division positions, as well as vote for their favourite candidates.
This year, Saskatchewan municipal elections are on Oct. 28. City hall will begin accepting candidate nomination sheets on Sept. 14 and will continue to do so until 4 p.m. on Sept. 30.
Candidates have until 4 p.m. on Oct. 1 to withdraw from the election.
Currently, candidate information packages are available at city hall or online at www.moosejaw.ca.

Hitting those drifts again
At summer's end, Reflections of U owner and Moose Jaw Sno-drifters Snowmobile Club president Jeremy Girard said snowmobile enthusiasts become excited for their high-powered winter pastime.
"As fall comes and the weather starts to cool, everyone kind of gets that snowmobile fever."
Girard said the local snowmobile club is holding its annual general meeting on Sept. 15 (location to be determined) and anyone interested in joining the club is encouraged to call 693-7327.

Fall fashion
Autumn is the best time to buy quality clothes that allow creativity and won't fall out of fashion by the next year, according to Clothes Encounter owner Rick Klein.
He told the Times-Herald fall fashion, especially for women, offers more opportunities to mix different elements, wear layers and create a more individual appearance than is available with spring fashion.
"I think (fall fashion) allows for a little more creativity," Klein said, adding the types of clothes one buys in autumn typically remain in style for long periods of time, which is unlike spring or summer clothes.
"A nice sweater is a nice sweater."

Halloween
McCulloch's Costume and Dancewear owner Marlene Jerred said people get very excited about Halloween and she hears a lot of talk about the annual Oct. 31 festivity within the community all year round.
According to Jerred, a growing number of young adults is becoming interested in celebrating Halloween and she finds a lot of customers in this age category putting together fairly extensive costumes. She said people just enjoy the opportunity to get out of their daily routines.
"They do things they wouldn't normally do."
She added people usually start coming to her store to plan their Halloween costumes in mid-September.

Pumpkin pie
Maple Leaf Bakery just started its pumpkin pie season last week and store owner-manager Marlaine Schweiger said the number of such pies will start to peak in the beginning of October.
She said pumpkin pie is very popular in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, with her store baking about 80 pies a day during the week of Thanksgiving.
However, as popular as pumpkin pies might be, Schweiger said as soon as Thanksgiving is over, bakeries basically stop making that product and start making mince tarts in advance of Christmas.
She added the seasonal availability of pumpkin pies makes the product more enjoyable for the consumer, as it wouldn't be a novelty otherwise.

Another hockey season
The final days of summer also mark the beginning of hockey season in the Friendly City.
On Saturday the Moose Jaw Warriors will play its first pre-season home game against the Swift Current Broncos.
The WHL team's regular season begins Sept. 18 in Swift Current.
For those looking to participate in a little informal rec hockey, or other public skating activities, local arenas will start offering public skating starting in October.

Carter Haydu can be reached at 691-1265.